Christmas in New Orleans
by AtLoLevad
Summary: On Christmas Eve, the NCIS team heads to the bank of the Mississippi River to watch the bonfire and fireworks show. Chris and Merri are excited to start new traditions with their two kids.


"Y'all ready?" Chris LaSalle shouts, practically bouncing on his feet in the middle of the NCIS field office.

"Ready, ready!" Gus pipes up from her spot sitting on Merri's chair. She's kicking her little legs and banging her heels against the desk drawers.

"I knew my Gus would be th' first one ready!" Chris beams, lifting his daughter into his arms and swinging her in the air. Gus screams and squeals with glee, shouting "Higher Daddy!"

"She's only the first one ready because the rest of us had to get her ready," Merri says, rolling her eyes as she holds tightly to Brody's hand. The three-year-old is just learning how to handle stairs and it is a test of patience for the adult that has to help him.

(Chris usually gets impatient half way down and hoists the boy onto his hip so he can jog the rest of the stairs quicker.)

(Percy, surprisingly, has the most patience for the little boy. It could be because Brody learned to say "So!" before he could say "Dada".)

"We coulda used your help, Christopher," Pride teases, following Merri and Brody down the stairs.

"Well, it's not like I wasn't doing anythin'," Chris protests, letting Gus hook her legs around his waist in a piggyback, "While y'all were gettin' ready, I was savin' us some seats in a prime po'sition."

"Good job, then," Merri grins, leaning forward to steal a quick kiss. She doesn't usually engage in public displays of affection, especially not in the office and in front of King, but it's Christmas Eve and her husband just looks so damn attractive in the fading New Orleans light.

"You'd best believe it," Chris crows with pride, "Now get yer pretty face in the car. We gotta get goin'."

"Get goin'!" Gus parrots, clinging to Chris' neck. She shoots Merri a bright grin, her little Santa hat falling crookedly over her eyes.

Pride lifts Brody onto his hip and tickles the little boy, "Sonja is meetin' us there with Loretta and Sebastian and the boys."

The family of four and Pride settles into the truck to begin the 15 minute drive to the shore of the Mississippi River.

"Mama?" Gus shouts from the back row of the car (even though she can't be more than 3 feet from Merri, the little girl has no concept of an Inside Voice.).

"Yes, Gus?" Merri twists in her seat.

"I'm 'cited," the tiny girl grinned widely, showing off the gap from her freshly lost front tooth.

"I'm glad!" Merri grins back, "We're all excited too!"

"Mama?" Gus asks again, reaching forward to grasp at Merri's hand with her own tiny fingers.

"Yes, Gus?" Merri laughs, eyes shining and heart full of love for this wonderful little girl.

"Why am I 'cited? What's happening?" Her little nose - Merri's nose - wrinkles.

In the front seat, Chris and Pride laugh out loud. Merri, for her part, laughs lightly and squeezes Gus' fingers.

"Well, you know how it's Christmas Eve?" Merri starts to explain.

"Yup!" Gus bobbles her head, "Santa's coming tonight!"

She leans forward in her seat and taps Brody on his shoulder. The three-year-old tries to turn, but the straps keep him in place.

"Santa's bringin' presents, Brody! For us!" She informs him happily. Brody grins and repeats, "Presents, presents, presents."

Chris laughs, "The big guy only brings presents if ya've been good all year. Have ya been good, baby?"

Gus wrinkles her nose, thinking. Merri and Pride smother laughter because they _know_ Gus is very rarely on her best behavior.

"I think I've been great, Daddy!" She exclaims, smiling innocently.

"Santa'll be th' judge of that," Chris winks.

Merri can see that Gus' lower lip is poking out, a typical precursor to crying, so she cuts in quickly, "Anyway, we're going to sit on the edge of the Mississippi River and watch a big, huge bonfire go up."

"Fire?" Gus asks, still a little fuzzy on why exactly they were going out.

"Yep," Merri continues to explain, "It's like a giant fireplace that helps Santa find New Orleans."

"And me and Brody?" Gus asks, leaning forward to pat her brother's head.

"And you and Brody," Merri agrees.

"We're here," Pride announces a few minutes later and Gus and Brody immediately start clambering to be released from their car seats.

Gus manages to get out of hers while Merri helps Brody. She turns in the back row and smacks her palms against the rear window.

"Daddy, daddy!" She shouts, trying to catch LaSalle's attention as he comes around the back of the car.

"Gus, Gus," he drawls back, grinning as he mimics her. LaSalle leans against the car's bumper, waiting for Gus to make her usual request.

"I wanna climb outta the truck!" She squeals, thrilled when LaSalle pops open the trunk door and lifts her out.

She gives LaSalle a smacking kiss on the cheek and tucks her head against his neck.

Merri watches the ritual and smiles. This week Gus has decided to be a Daddy's Girl, and Merri would be lying if she said she didn't think it was the cutest damn thing she's ever seen.

(Being a Daddy's Girl, for Gus at least, consists of parroting everything Daddy says and hanging off of Daddy's belt loops. To be honest, it's much easier on Merri's back when Gus is a Daddy's Girl.)

Brody holds out his arms to Pride, "Papa King hold me!"

Merri reluctantly hands her son over, "I guess Mama's just chopped liver tonight."

Chris looks over at his lovely wife and winks, "Aw, Merri, I love chopped liver."

"Flatterer," Merri says, but smiles anyway as she gathers up the sweatshirts she brought along and the thermoses of cider and coffee and cocoa.

LaSalle hikes Gus up on one hip and uses the other hand to hold Merri's.

"Psht, ya love me," he teases, warm eyes sparkling.

"Maybe," Merri teases back, the couple following Pride to where the rest of their family is waiting.

LaSalle had come out earlier to set up chairs and a small table. He'd even had the forethought to bring a miniature heater in case the Louisiana night grew cold.

(Not a damn chance in hell of that happening, Merri thought to herself, but it was the thought that counts.)

"Took y'all long enough!" Percy shouts, giving Gus a big hug, "Did LaSalle get lost again?"

"I will have ya know, Percy," LaSalle grumbles good-naturedly, "That I do not get lost. We LaSalles have wonderful senses of direction."

Merri rolls her eyes as she takes a seat, "Sure, Chris. It didn't take us an extra two hours to get to Alabama because you got lost."

Brody curls up on his mama's lap and she gently strokes his hair.

(It's just before 5 pm, but Brody's sleep schedule is all out of whack thanks to Daylight Savings. Merri and Chris are hoping he gets back in the groove soon.)

Gus is prancing around their little set up, bouncing from adult to adult and getting hugs and kisses and chattering away.

Someone (Danny) has given her a sparkler and that gets waved through the air. Merri shields Brody's face from the flying sparks and nudges Chris, who already has his phone out. Merri may send the video to her parents tomorrow.

(They don't visit much, but they love Gus and Brody to pieces.)

(Truth be told, Merri tries to keep her mother away. It makes her feel like a bad daughter sometimes, but then she thinks about how she would feel if her mother criticized Gus.)

"Hey, Gus," Chris calls, "Lookit. They're lightin' up the fire."

Gus drops the sparkler and Sebastian quickly steps on it so they don't start a blaze.

They have a perfect view of the bonfire, but Gus begs to sit on Chris' shoulders. He, of course, lets her clamber up.

(Daddy's Girl, remember?)

As the blaze builds, the New Orleans NCIS team watches with wide eyes. It's always beautiful, no matter how many times they've seen it.

Even Brody perks up, eyes wide as he leans forward in Merri's lap.

"Santa's gonna see that?" He whispers reverently.

Merri smiles softly, "Yeah, little guy, Santa's gonna see that."

"Oh Daddy!" Gus breathes, her voice low for once, "It's so beautiful!"

Chris loves the sound of awe in his little girl's voice so much; he doesn't even wince when she pulls at his hair.

He looks over at Merri and grins widely.

"Merry Christmas, Mere," he whispers, winking.

She reaches a hand out and pats his hip, "Merry Christmas, Chris."

She giggles at the play with their names, even as Chris snorts when he realizes what they've just said.

Eventually, Gus climbs off of her daddy's shoulders and curls up next to Pride on the blanket. They pass around the thermoses and watch the bonfire dwindle and the fireworks kick up.

Chris loops his arm around Merri's shoulders and she tucks as close to him as the chairs will allow.

"Mebbe Gus'll let us sleep in, tamorrow. Whattaya think?" Chris mutters as they watch Gus talk happily with Pride and CJ.

Merri presses a kiss to his shoulder, "Have you met our daughter, Chris? She'll be up at the crack of three."

Chris groans, "Then what the hell are we doin' up? I needed ta be asleep an hour ago."

Gus is waving around a new sparkler at this point, but she's much more subdued, listening to Pride talk. He's probably telling her all about the different New Orleans traditions he's picked up through the years.

Merri snaps a quick picture as their two heads bend close together, lit up by the bonfire behind them.

The picture quickly becomes Pride's favorite and gets the place of honor as his phone's lock screen image.

(Merri and Chris are partial to the picture they take the next morning of Gus and Brody absolutely passed out in a pile of discarded wrapping paper.)

(Although, the image of Brody with his face covered in meringue the next night during Reveillon dinner gets some good play.)

* * *

 _A/N: Happy middle of Hanukkah, Happy 14 days 'till Christmas, and Happy Friday! (Think I covered everything!)_

 _This is the second in a series of 6 totally unrelated stories for Christmas. I'm writing one holiday story for each of my fandoms. The first was NCIS and the next will be Grey's Anatomy._

 _I did a little research into New Orleans holiday traditions and found out about the bonfires on the Mississippi. I thought that might be a fun one for our team to do. Also, you guys are getting a little more of Gus' personality since she's only 2 in the last Cherri snapshot I posted. Hope y'all like her! AND! You guys got to meet Cherri Baby #2 that was just on his way in the last snap. I'll be posting something soon-ish that explains his name :)_

 _Drop me a review and let me know what you think, I'll consider it an early Christmas present :)_


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